Not since 1960 has Road & Track tested a and, although we gave this devil his due ("The Corvette is unmatched for performance per dollar in terms of transportation machines..."), there was a desire expressed by our testers to "do something about the rear suspension." The tendency for the rear wheels to spin freely on acceleration and for the rear end to come sliding around rather quickly during hard cornering was always there. Chevrolet engineers had done a good job with what they had at hand, but there just wasn't enough with which to work. That production-component live rear axle could hop and dance like an Apache with a hot foot.

Now, with the advent of full independent rear suspension described in previous pages, the Corvette's handling characteristics are considerably different. In a word, the new Sting Ray sticks! Whether you slam the car through an S-bend at 85 or pop the clutch at 5000 rpm at the drag strip, the result is the same — great gripping gobs of traction.

We proved it to our complete satisfaction on General Motors' infamous "Ride and Handling Road." Here, all GM divisions test just those factors on their own, and on competitors', vehicles. The 3-mile route includes samples of virtually every kind of road one could ever encounter. The main loop, while not smooth, is a satisfactory substitute for a road racing course. There are several sweeping right-handers, a keen S-bend and a sharp-right, sharp-left series that (purposely) is made even more interesting by rows of 1-in. ripples running transversely across the roadway. Obviously, if a car is pushed hard through here, a hopping rear axle will lose any semblance of traction; we suspect many a GM product has gone off the pavement, tail first, in this spot. But not so our test Corvette; we entered this with caution the first time through, testing traction with short bursts of throttle. Although we got lots of shaking and juddering throughout the car, it seemed to hold quite well. Second time through, more power, more speed. Third time around we gritted our teeth and held on — 5000 rpm in 2nd gear produced just a trace of "scrabbling" at the rear while the whole car remained completely in control. Older Corvettes develop an incurable case of St. Vitus's Dance just at the sight of this corner.

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The S-bend was even more fun: Every time through it we discovered we could have gone a little faster. We never did find the limit, although the last pass was made at nearly 90 mph. We noted that there appeared to be no excessive movement of the chassis in relation to the wheels, even when straightening out fast bends such as these. It does have that distinct "walking" feeling peculiar to virtually all independently sprung cars — one senses the wheels working, moving up and down, one at a time, independent of the supremely stable platform.

One other incident further emphasized the car's greatly increased traction. When we started our acceleration runs we ran the engine up to 3000 rpm and began to ease out the clutch. On the older Corvettes this would have been enough to set the rear wheels a-spinning and the car off to a good, quick start. On the Sting Ray, nothing happened except that the car sort of lurched away from the starting point. We tried it again with 3500 rpm, then 4000 and 5000. The truth was apparent: traction so good you have to wind up to at least 4500 rpm before you can induce off-the-line wheelspin. And, at that, the wheels don't spin very much. Our test car, despite being a pilot-line model (these are cars run down a preliminary assembly line to test procedures and are therefore not always the mechanical equals of regular production cars) and equipped with a 3.70:1 differential ratio, was faster up to 60 mph than our 1960 test car, which had a 4.10 ratio (but a 283-cu in. engine). As a matter of comparison, here are the acceleration figures for that 1960 f.i. Corvette, our 1963 test car and a 1962 (f.i., 327 cu in., 4.11:1) Corvette tested by Car Life magazine:

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1960

1962

1963

0-40

4.2

3.6

3.4

0-60

6.6

5.9

5.9

0-80

9.6

9.3

10.2

0-100

14.5

14.0

16.5

1/4-mile

14.2

14.0

14.9

The increased traction gives the '63 equal or better acceleration up to 60 mph, but from there on up the lack of a 4.11 axle ratio hurts its performance in comparison with the others. (As a point of interest, Corvette Positraction gearsets are available in 3.08, 3.36, 3.55, 3.70, 4.11 and 4.56 ratios.) Because the test car was a pre-production model, and the test driving was limited to the GM test track, Road & Track intends to test a production model at a later date.

There are many, many improvements elsewhere in the Corvette, including completely new (although production sedan components) front suspension, frame, seats, outside panels, inside panels, dash, steering wheel, ad gloriam. When you get right down to it, the car is virtually all new, using mostly only the education gained from the old one.

One thing the designers thought of this time around — the driver. Not only is the steering wheel adjustable for reach (3 in., in and out) so that you can drive Italian-style, but the seats are comfortable and give enough leg room. Instruments are all new and better placed, with twin 6-in. speedometer and tachometer directly in front of the steering wheel. The passenger still has a panic handle in front of him, bit it isn't quite as obvious as before. Also, there's a locking glove cubby (gin bin, to the country club set). Our only complaint about the interior was in the coupe, where all we could see in the rear view mirror was that silly bar splitting the rear window down the middle.

While our test car was a fuel-injected, 360-bhp convertible, we also drove the new coupe. Both have one major drawback in common — the lack of easy entry to storage space behind the seat. Both cars have adequate luggage space, but the luggage, or anything else that is hauled in that area, must be put in from the front; there are no deck lids. In the case of the convertible, the top must be disconnected from its tonneau panel and the seat backs flipped forward before access is gained. In the coupe, there's room for a couple of young children and lots of baggage behind the seats, but they all have to go in through the doors. (One of those Aston Martin type rear-window doors would have been an ideal solution — perhaps Chevrolet could offer one as an option.)

The coupe is very quiet inside, with little wind noise below 70 mph. Available with power steering and power brakes, and Powerglide automatic transmission, it probably will earn Corvette a bigger share in the burgeoning "personal car" market.

As a purely sporting car, the new Corvette will know few peers on road or track. It has proved, in its "stone-age form," the master of most production-line competitors; in its nice, shiny new concept it ought to be nearly unbeatable.

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